Notably, XETV had just celebrated 60 years of broadcasting, having signed on with English language broadcasting in 1953 and continuing to do so until last year, when it switched to Televisa’s Spanish-language broadcasts of Canal Cinco. XETV-DT was the first digital TV station to broadcast in Mexico in 2000, and likely the inspiration for having Tijuana selected as the first market to shutdown its analog TV.

Mexico’s EFE indicates that over 192,000 free digital TV converters were passed out to Tijuana area residents as part of the transition. Unconfirmed statistics have 48% of Tijuana residents receiving their TV via free over-the-air broadcasts.

Interestingly, Entravision-operated XHDTV on Cerro Bola near Tecate remains on the air on channel 49. The next shutdown date, November 26, 2013 is supposed to include Mexicali, but it is not known whether XHDTV will shutdown at that time.

What is not yet known is how the empty channels will affect FCC-mandated repacking of TV channels along the border. There’s likely to be a scramble on both sides of the border to occupy the empty lower UHF channels.